Suspect pleads not guilty to woman's fatal stabbing

Chula Vista  A San Diego man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a murder charge connected to the stabbing of a 33-year-old woman at a gated apartment complex in San Ysidro this month.

Ysmael Galindo, 24, was arraigned by a Superior Court judge and was ordered held without bail, Deputy District Attorney David Bost said. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 10.

The victim, Araceli Noriega, had been visiting friends at the Villa Serena apartments on Dairy Mart Road, near Vista Lane, when she was stabbed about 12:20 a.m. July 2, police said. She was among five people drinking and listening to music.

She walked away from the group several times that night, police said. The final time she returned, she was clutching herself because she had been stabbed, police said.

Detectives said their investigation led them to Galindo. U.S. marshals arrested him July 13 on Wardlow Avenue in Nestor, several blocks from the apartment complex where Noriega was attacked.